Navigation systems may be onboard vehicle systems or portable devices, such as designated handheld units or mobile phones executing navigation applications. Often, in the case of a vehicle navigation system, the system is part of a larger infotainment system, which provides entertainment and information services to the vehicle user. Navigation systems typically include a navigation platform and an underlying navigation core application, also termed a navigation solution. The navigation platform typically includes hardware architecture and a software framework, including an operating system, and related user-interfaces to support execution of, and user interaction with, the navigation solution. The navigation solution is typically the “back end” software and related databases that provide core navigation functionality, such as, route planning and guidance, and map, address and point of interest (POI) information.
Navigation systems, especially vehicle navigation systems, have developed into complex and tailored systems that have historically been developed by original equipment manufacturers (OEM's) as embedded information systems in which the navigation platform and navigation solution are both developed and built together as a unitary system. A more recent trend has been for OEM's to take advantage of external navigation solution expertise and look to outside vendors for navigation solutions. In a typical development cycle, a navigation or infotainment system OEM may design a new navigation platform based on requirements defined by a customer, such as a vehicle manufacturer. The navigation system OEM will, in turn, require a tailored navigation solution that is able meet specific requirements for integration into the navigation platform. The step of integrating the navigation solution is often complex and involved, since the navigation platform is configured to interface with the navigation solution in a specific and complex way. Accordingly, a particular provider-developed navigation solution will be specifically tailored for a particular OEM navigation platform and will require the platform to interface with the solution in a very specific and often complex way. A navigation system OEM who has relied upon a particular provider for a navigation solution may be somewhat committed to that provider for procurement of future solutions. The economics of navigation system development are thus characterized by added costs and inefficiencies, which could be reduced if more flexibility were provided for integrating navigation solutions into navigation platforms.
Another problem relates to different respective development cycles of navigation platforms and navigation solutions. Navigation platform development may cycle with yearly or vehicle model cycles while navigation solution development cycles are not so limited and are typically more rapid. New technologies may enable frequent upgrades to features and functionality in a navigation solution. On the other hand, integrating such features and functionality into the navigation system might have to wait until the next generation navigation platform is developed. As an example, consider a navigation solution that has been upgraded with appropriate database information to provide a new lane recommendation feature, which suggests the best traffic lane to a user. In the current technological and economic environment, adding such a feature to an OEM navigation system would usually require significant modification to or even complete re-design of the navigation platform in order to access the new feature. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a way for a navigation platform to discover and integrate new functionality available in a navigation solution.
Yet another problem is that the performance and compatibility of a navigation solution usually cannot be fully assessed until the navigation solution is integrated into a host navigation platform. Similarly, navigation system OEM's have difficulty testing compatibility of the navigation solution with the platform until both the platform and the solution are finalized. As such, it would be desirable to enable the prototyping of navigation solutions to proceed without dependency on the development of a host navigation platform.
Thus, there is a need in the art for improvements that address the aforementioned problems and facilitate more efficient and flexible integration of navigation solutions into navigation platforms. The aforementioned shortcomings and others are addressed by navigation systems and related methods according to aspects of the invention.